A portfolio of Americans who stepped up in 2011Photographs by Kalpesh Lathigra

D.J. Skelton

D.J. Skelton

For a second there, D. J. Skelton felt like he was floating. And then came the sound of a soldier asking if he was alive. Skelton tried to scream. But nothing came out. Then ... blinding pain.

The RPG ambush in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, destroyed Skelton's entire upper jaw, palate, and left eye. His left arm was pulverized and a fist-sized hole was punched through his right leg. It would take sixty surgeries and six years for Skelton to fully recover, during which he worked for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and cofounded a disable-bodied sports organization, Paradox Sports. But one thing he knew soon after he awoke in the hospital: He wanted to return to his men.

In March, Skelton took command of 150 infantrymen, armor soldiers, and fire-support soldiers of the 2nd Cavalry during their one-year tour in Afghanistan. Although he can't see out of his left eye and eats with a prosthesis, the soldiers see him as nothing other than what he is — Captain Skelton, head of the company. He is the most seriously injured active-duty soldier. And he is exactly where he belongs, leading his soldiers. —Mark Mikin

Larry Powell

Larry Powell

Superintendent, Fresno Country Office of Education

In 1987, Larry Powell played Juror No. Eleven in Twelve Angry Men in his hometown of Fresno, California. Playing an Eastern European refugee, he had to pretend he couldn't get any of the jokes. Which was hard for Powell. He loves laughter. He believes that it helps you survive the difficulties of life. It's a gift he thinks everyone should have.

But when California cut billions in education funding — which came out to $1,200 less per Fresno student — it meant cuts top to bottom. So Powell did the only thing he could: He quit his job as Fresno schools superintendent and the $230,000 salary that went with it, and then reapplied to do the same job for $31,000 a year. Powell could afford to take the cut, he believed, but the students couldn't. By the time he retires, Powell's act will have added more than $800,000 to the coffers of the Fresno County school system, all of which has been earmarked into a discretionary fund for arts programs as well as an antibullying program called Rachel's Challenge. His sacrifice alone won't fix the budget crisis. But at least the shows will go on. —M.M.